Ode to Us
by bravest hope
Summary: Prom is finally here and though it's everything Blair has ever hoped it would be, somehow something still feels like it's missing. Chuck/Blair.


_Disclaimer:_ _Not mine, it all belongs to Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage; I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while._

Vague spoilers for upcoming episodes (Blair and Nate getting back together and Serena's convict boyfriend), but nothing too important. Please review!

* * *

From the moment she first walked through the doors of Constance Billard almost twelve years ago, Blair has been dreaming of her senior prom. She would be glowing and happy, wearing a gorgeous dress that would have all eyes on her, on the arm of her perfect boyfriend and very own Prince Charming, Nate Archibald. Short of her wedding, it would be the best night of her life.

After all that had passed in the last year and a half, Blair had given up hope of having her fairytale prom – but that was exactly what she had ended up with, only she wasn't nearly as excited as she should have been. Despite getting everything her seven-year-old wished for, Blair isn't happy. Because even with everything that had happened between, she still wishes that Chuck was going to be escorting her tonight, the way he wanted to escort her to the debutante ball a year ago. Part of her wishes that she could sit this one out, but she is a Waldorf and that just won't do. She will suck it up and put on a happy face the way she has been taught, and when Nate arrives later with the beautiful corsage she knows his mother has chosen, she will smile and thank him and kiss him on the cheek the way perfect Upper East Side girlfriends are supposed to.

Maybe years later, when she is showing her children the photos from this night, if she looks happy enough, she'll be able to convince herself that she actually was. Appearances are more important than feelings anyway; everyone knows that.

//

Chuck and Serena decide to come together, due to Serena's date fleeing the country to escape jail time and Chuck's unwillingness to take a girl on anything even remotely resembling a date. Blair had thought it would be awkward, but the reality is that she hardly sees him all night. He and Serena ride in a separate limo – _her_ limo, _their_ limo, she can't help but think jealously – and Chuck spends all of dinner sitting at the hotel bar, brooding over a glass of scotch. For this she is thankful because she doesn't know how she would handle seeing him again – they haven't had much contact since she and Nate went public over a month ago.

The night is almost over and Blair is beginning to think that she might actually escape the night unscathed when she feels him behind her. She looks surreptitiously around her, attempting to locate someone who might be able to rescue her, but no knight in shining armor is to be found. Serena is busy with Brooklyn and Nate has just left to retrieve her coat from the checkroom before the end-of-night rush; she is trapped. Her nose is flooded with the smell of scotch and his custom cologne, signaling his close proximity, but still she refuses to turn around and admit his presence.

"So, Waldorf, last dance," Chuck says. She continues to studiously ignore him while she looks out on the couples swaying gently on the dance floor. "What do you say? For old times sake?"

Blair turns to tell him to go back to whatever hole he crawled out of, but the words die on her lips at the sight of him looking at her so sincerely, holding out his hand for her to take. There is something in his eyes that she doesn't want to acknowledge, so she stares at his proffered hand with pursed lips instead.

"C'mon, Waldorf, I don't bite." She gives an unladylike snort and Chuck sighs slightly. He sounds annoyed when he adds, "We used to be friends once. I'm sure your dear Nathaniel won't mind you sparing one dance for those of us unfortunate enough to have spent the evening outside of your lovely company."

She looks up at him blankly, surprised at the lack of bitterness in his voice, before letting out a deep breath and placing her hand delicately in his. "No, I suppose he wouldn't."

Chuck leads her to the middle of floor and gently wraps his free arm around her waist as she places her hand on his shoulder. Blair looked up into his face only to find him staring at her fixedly, that intense look she has come to love clouding his eyes. She is suddenly strongly reminded of the last time they danced together like this, at the Winter Ball all those months ago, and everything that has happened since then. She turns her head to avoid the onslaught of emotions and focuses instead on Serena and Brooklyn sitting at the table together, laughing and smiling.

It isn't fair, she thinks, that they can still be such good friends after everything that has taken place between them. A struggling relationship finally put out of its misery, lovestruck parents, a shared sibling – and still, there they are, acting as though they've never been anything but the best of friends. She wishes, more than anything, that if she and Chuck can never be what she so wants them to, they can at least go back to the way they had been before that night at Victrola. If nothing else she misses her friend and scheming partner, the one person she could always count on to be there when social annihilation was necessary.

Her hand grips Chuck's shoulder a little bit tighter as the full realization of what she has lost hits her. He seems to sense the looming melancholy and instinctively moves closer.

"You look beautiful," he says softly, his hand leaving her waist to brush the hair from her face.

She moves her hand along his shoulder until it comes to rest around his neck. "You don't look too bad yourself, Bass. Less sparkly than anticipated, but it's a nice change of pace." She smirks.

His hand tightens around her as he responds. "I wasn't feeling quite my usual dazzling self when I got dressed tonight."

Blair says nothing, trying not to think about what he might have meant.

She feels his fingers trail along her bare collarbone before he comments, "You seem to be missing something, too. No necklace?"

He is smirking, of this she is sure, so she chooses not to dignify his question with a response. "I've missed you," she admits instead. She has no right, she knows, to be saying this to him when she is the one keeping them apart at the moment, but the truth is that she is lost and confused and being with Nate is so familiar that it comforts her, even if she doesn't feel quite the same way about him as she once did. She expects him to snap at her, tell her something that will shred whatever's left of her tortured heart, but he surprises her by placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Don't complicate things, Waldorf. Just enjoy the moment."

And for once she decides to listen.

She lays her head lightly on his shoulder as they continue to sway to the soft melody playing in the background. She inhales the scent of him, so sharp and distinct, trying to ingrain it into her memory, along with the feel of his hand on the small of her back and his breath blowing gently across her neck. This is, she thinks, probably the last time they will ever be together like this; after graduation this weekend, they will both go their separate ways. She'll be off at college for the next four years while he'll remain in New York, running Bass Industries by day and attending business classes at night. They'll probably run into each other at various parties and charity events, greet each other casually and chat the way old friends do, but never again will they be able to hold each other the way they are right now. She wants to relish this moment, to have this memory of them forever, so she lefts her thoughts go and focuses instead on the steady beat of his heart beneath of her head.

When the song ends, neither Blair nor Chuck notice immediately. It's only after Serena comes to tell her that Nate has her coat and is for her waiting by the limo outside that she notices she and Chuck are the only ones still dancing. Her heart sinks when Chuck pulls away from her.

"Tell him I'll be there in a minute," she says and Serena turns away with one last glance. Blair thinks she can see pity in her gaze and bristles instinctively, but then she feels Chuck grab her hand and the impending anger melts away instantly.

Chuck's thumb draws small, soft circles on her palm as he looks at her. Blair is filled with an all-encompassing sadness as she realizes that this is it; the night is over and with it her last chance to be with Chuck – to pretend, if only for a moment, that for once things had worked out the way she planned. She opens her mouth to say something, but he beats her to the chase.

"Don't worry about it, Waldorf," he says sadly, leaning in to give her a chaste kiss on the lips. "See you around."

And just like that, he's gone, leaving her alone in the middle of the dance floor, a strange twist to the way she left him a year earlier.

She places her fingers gently on her lips as the tears she's been holding in all night began to fall. She stares after his rapidly disappearing figure and whispers into the air, "See you around, Chuck."

END


End file.
